PUTRAJAYA: Responding to criticism from MCA, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said his Chinese counterpart had invited his wife to sit in a meeting in Beijing last month.
“If the Chinese minister allowed her to sit there, what is MCA’s problem?”
MCA had been asking why Loke’s wife, Ng Chi Li, was present during the meeting.
The minister’s special functions officer Chung Yi Fan also set the record straight and said the trip lasted seven days, not six as claimed by MCA.
Chung said ministers’ spouses were allowed to tag along on official trips under a circular of the Instruction of Cabinet Secretary No 1/2018.
“Therefore Mrs Loke’s presence, when YB Loke met his Chinese counterpart, Chinese Transport Minister Li Xiaopeng, on Jan 27 was in her official capacity and should not be questioned.
“She was officially invited by the Chinese government.
“Had any members of the Malaysian delegation been absent from official programmes during the working visit to attend other informal excursions, it would be a legitimate cause for further scrutiny. “Otherwise, what MCA did was no more than cheap publicity,” he said.